This is the sixth edition of Purdue Track Tidbits. The weekly update features a weekly update that will cover upcoming news and events, national standings, top performers, school records, and other happenings within the program. These ‘tidbits’ are released each Tuesday of the season.

McLeod Comes Up B1G (Champion)-Vanessa McLeod won the 800m Big Ten Championships with a time of 2:05.21. That time broke the school record by 2.49 seconds, a record which she also held. -McLeod qualified for the finals after finishing sixth in the prelims with a time more than three seconds slower. -The freshman is the first Purdue woman to win the 800m Big Ten Title since Kim Jordan won in 2002 and just the third woman in school history.

Rewriting The Top Fives-Purdue added names to 12 top-five categories in all-time program history during the Big Ten Championships including McLeod. -Matthew McClintock and Kelly McCurdy each ran the third-fastest 5k in school history. McClintock also ran the second-fastest 3k while McCurdy ran the fourth-fastest time over the same distance. -Brandon Winters and Ciana Tabb moved up the top five in the hurdles. Winters ran a 7.82 seconds time, the fifth-fastest time in school history, to earn the bronze medal while Tabb ran the third-fastest time in Purdue lore with a mark of 8.43 seconds. -Dani Bunch and Chukwuebuka Enekwechi added their names to the weight throw lists. Bunch threw the second-best women’s mark, 21.61m (70-10.75) to finish runner-up, while Enekwechi recorded a toss of 21.90m (71-10.25), the fourth-best mark in Boilermaker history, to finish third. -Aarin Jones ran the fifth-fastest 400m time in Purdue women’s track history after clocking in at 55.04 seconds. -The men’s 4x400m relay team ran a time of 3:09.73 to finish fifth. That time is believed to be the second-fastest in program history and the fastest since 1988. -The women’s relay team ran a 3:42.41 time which cracks the top five. They finished in sixth at the Big Ten meet.

Here’s The Point-Purdue scored points in 19 total events at the Big Ten Championships. -Jones scored in the women’s 400m while Andrew Kendrick scored for the men in the same event. -McLeod was the top finisher as she won the 800m. -Winters scored in the 60m hurdles with his third-place finish. -McCurdy scored in the 3,000-meter and the 5,000-meter runs. -The men’s and women’s distance medley relay teams each scored. -The men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams each scored. -Geoff Davis finished third in the men’s high jump. -Byron Ferrell and Mitch Erickson scored in the men’s pole vault. -Cierra Brown scored in the women’s triple jump. -Bunch scored in the women’s weight throw and shot put. -Enekwechi and Coy Blair each scored in the shot put. Blair took the bronze medal. -Enekwechi also scored in the weight throw with his third place finish

Boilermakers, Record Breakers -Purdue continues to put its student-athletes names at the top of the record books. The total is still four McLeod broke the 800m record, but it was her own record. The record-break performances in chronological order: -Bunch broke the women’s shot put school record earlier this season. Bunch threw 16.70m (54-09.50) at the IU Relays (1/25) to break her previous record by two inches. Bunch also sits in second in Purdue history in the weight throw, just a half inch shy of tying the program best of 21.62m (70-11.25).-Purdue broke two school records at the SPIRE D1 Indoor Track and Field Invite (2/8-2/9). -Dan Porter broke Tim Smith’s 35-year old record in the mile after running a time of 4:05.91 at the SPIRE Invite. Smith’s record was 4:06.27. -McLeod broke the women’s 800m run record at SPIRE. McLeod, a freshman, finished in 2:07.70 which was 0.20 second faster than Brooke Woodruff’s school record, set in 2006. -Davis tied a 12-year old Purdue record in the high jump when he cleared 2.26m (7-05.00) at the Fred Wilt Boilermaker Invite (2/16). -McLeod broke her previous record by running a 2:05.21 breaking her previous mark by 2.49 seconds and earned a gold medal at the B1G Championships (2/23) in the process.

Top Of The Class-The men’s and women’s cross country teams earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors on Monday. It was the fifth-straight year for the men and the seventh-straight year for the women to earn the honor. The qualify, teams must start at least five runners at regionals and have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.00. -McClintock earned a spot on the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for his scholastic and athletic achievements last year. To qualify, one must finish top 15 at a regional championship and maintain a grade point average of at least 3.25.

I’ll Give You One More Chance-Purdue is scheduled to send 17 student-athletes to last chance meets this weekend in hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. -Throws coach Keith McBride will take Bunch, Enekwechi, Blair, and Engel to the Iowa State Qualifier. Sprinter Eric Harris will also go with the group to compete. -Kendrick, Andre’ Peart, Nicholas Parks, and Mario Cosey will make up the 4x400m relay team that is scheduled to travel to Notre Dame for the Alex Wilson Invite. Tabb, Kari Shoolbraid, Jones, Bre’Anna Smith, and Taylor Morrison will also be on the trip for the women. -Winters, Nikki Nunn, and Cierra Brown will travel to the Virginia Tech qualifier for their shot at the NCAA meet.

Big Ten Throws Lead The Nation-Including Enekwechi and Blair, the Big Ten has six of the top 25 men’s shot putters in the nation. -Including Bunch, the conference boasts four of the top 25 women in the shot put. -The Big Ten has three men in the top five in the weight throw, including Enekwechi, six in the top 10, seven of the top 15, and nine of the top 25. All of these are the most of any conference. -Four women from the Big Ten are in the top 25 nationally, all in the top 11, in the women’s weight throw including Bunch’s fifth ranked throw.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered-The team has now signed 10 incoming freshman, nine women and one man. -Savannah Carson, Carmiesha Cox, Devynne Charlton, Shantyra Delaney, Taylor Dunlap, Makayla Earnheart, Kiara McIntosh, Chelsie Meeks, and Hope Schmelze join the women’s team. -Obokhare Ikpefan signed on with the men’s team. -The track signing period began last Wednesday and continues to the start of August. -A full release including statistics, achievements, and more will be available for the entire class once it is completed.

What’s Up Next-The Boilermakers will send 17 to last chance meets while others, such as Davis in the high jump, are expected to qualify for the NCAA Championships. -After this weekend’s events, the national qualifiers will head to Fayetteville, Ark., on March 8-9 for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Alumni News-All track and field and cross alumni are invited to the 2013 reunion. -The reunion will be over the weekend of April 19th and 20th, the same weekend as the team hosts the Dave Rankin Outdoor Track and Field Invite. -More information about the event can be found by clicking here.

Track And Field Online -Follow the team on Twitter, @PurdueTrackXC. -The team can be found on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/PurdueTrack.